Man Arrested For Carving Pentagram Into Son’s Back

Brent Troy Bartel called 911 just after midnight Wednesday and told the operator he “shed some innocent blood.” When the operator asked what he meant, he said, “I inscribed a pentagram on my son.” When the dispatcher asked why, Bartel said, “It’s a holy day.”

Officers responded to the home in Richland Hills after the boy’s mother called 911 from a neighbor’s house saying that her husband was hurting their son.

Police found the boy wearing only pajama pants with a pentagram covering most of his back carved into his skin. The 6-year-old was treated at Cook Children’s Hospital and police said the carving wasn’t deep enough to require stitches. He is expected to recover just fine.

Child Protective Services and a crime victim liaison are working with the child and his mother.

Bartel was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a family member. He is being held on $500,000 bond.

It is unclear what Bartel meant when he said Wednesday was a “holy day.” He may have been referring to the repetitive date – 12/12/12 — or the fact that December 12 is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He may have also been referring to the fact that December 12 — and December 21 — are under scrutiny from numerologists and doomsday theorists.

This isn’t the first time Bartel has been arrested. In 2007, he was in court to fight a $25 traffic ticket for an illegal turn. He approached the judge, turned over his driver’s license, and said he was done as a truck driver. He then tried to punch the officer who gave him the ticket. It took an attorney and three officers to wrestle him to the ground.